Kyrgyzstan Protests Continue

MOSCOW, Russia -- President Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan reacted defiantly yesterday to anti-government protests that have swept the south of the Central Asian republic, charging in a speech to parliament that the "opposition is directed and funded from the outside."

He did not name the alleged foreign backers. But analysts said Akayev was voicing widespread suspicion among governments in the former Soviet republics that the recent popular revolts in Ukraine, Georgia and now Kyrgyzstan stem from Western, particularly U.S., efforts to install friendly leaders under the guise of building democracy.



"The events in Kyrgyzstan are not isolated from any of the so-called color revolutions that have been staged in other ... countries over the last 18 months," Akayev said in a reference to the 2003 "Rose Revolution" in Georgia and last year's "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine. "Such revolutions, which are nothing more than coups, go beyond the framework of the law."

U.S. and European officials have dismissed such charges, saying they have provided funding to nongovernmental organizations and in support of the elections in countries in the region but have not backed particular candidates or parties.

On Sunday and Monday, thousands of protesters, some armed with Molotov cocktails and clubs, seized government buildings in Osh, the country's second-largest city, and Jalal-Abad, as well as some smaller towns. Opposition leaders claimed they restored order yesterday in Osh and initiated joint patrols by their supporters and police.

In his speech, the president repeated declarations that he would not use violence to put down the protests.

The capital, Bishkek, which is in the north, remained quiet.

Akayev, 60, spoke yesterday to government deputies in the newly convened parliament. Opposition parties, which won only six seats in the body after two rounds of voting that ended March 13, said the protests were triggered by widespread ballot fraud. Among those elected were Akayev's son and daughter.

Opposition leaders say they think Akayev will use an overwhelming majority in parliament to extend his rule beyond the two terms allowed by the constitution. Presidential elections are scheduled for October, and Akayev has said he won't run again.

On Monday, Akayev called for the Central Elections Commission and the country's Supreme Court to examine some of the results contested by the opposition. Sulaiman Imanbayev, head of the commission, said yesterday that results in 71 of the country's 75 electoral districts were legitimate.

The protests are concentrated in the south, while Akayev holds strong support in his native north, where the capital, Bishkek, is located. If the opposition is unable to carry the protests north, the prospect of them dying by attrition is strong.

The two main opposition figures are both from the south, and they once were top officials under Akayev.

The better-known of the two outside Kyrgyzstan is Roza Otunbayeva, 54, who served two stints as foreign minister under Akayev and also has been the country's ambassador to the United States and Britain, as well as United Nations' envoy to Georgia.

Otunbayeva was not allowed to run in the parliamentary election because she did not meet the requirement of having lived in Kyrgyzstan for the previous five years — she had been serving overseas as an ambassador.

Otunbayeva wanted to run in the same district that Akayev's daughter, Bermet, eventually won, and government detractors accused Akayev of trying to establish a dynastic succession.

The other key opposition figure is 55-year-old Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a prime minister in the early years of the decade, when doubts about Akayev's commitment to democracy surfaced.